Battle of Indus

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Indus
partof=the Mongol invasion of Central Asia
date= Spring 1221
place=Near the Indus River
result=Complete Mongol Victory
territory= Khwarezmia added to the Mongol Empire
combatant1=Mongol Empire
combatant2=Khwarezmian Empire
commander1=Genghis Khan
commander2=Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu
strength1=10,000+ men Fact|date=February 2007
strength2=5,000 men Fact|date=February 2007
casualties1=Minimal
casualties2=Heavy
notes=

The Battle of Indus was fought at the river Indus in today's Pakistan in the year 1221 between Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the sultan of the Khwarezmid Empire and his only remaining forces of five thousand, and the Mongolian horde of Genghis Khan.

Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu was fleeing to India with his men together with thousands of refugees from Persia, following the Mongol sacking of several cities, including Bukhara and Samarkand, the latter being the Khwarezmian capital. After having won the Battle of Parwan, near the city Ghazna (Ghazni) in eastern Persia, Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu headed for India to seek refuge together with his army of some fifty thousand men and several thousand refugees. However, the horde of Genghis Khan caught up with him when he was about to cross the river Indus. The sultan posted most of his men in the way of the Mongols to let him and the refugees pass the river in safety. When the army who awaited the enemy was busy fighting the Mongolian vanguard, Genghis Khan led the main force towards the sultan who was trapped between the Mongols and the river.

The sultan engaged the Mongols with his five thousand men against the Mongols' over ten thousand. This attempt failed however and the soldiers were soon separated from the refugees who were brutally slaughtered. When the sultan realized he was doomed, he and his closest followers crossed the Indus River. Only a few of the refugees and probably none of the soldiers made it to the other side alive. Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu spent three years in exile in India before returning to Persia.